UFO ROUNDUP

Volume 7
Number 16
April 16, 2002

Editor: Joseph Trainor

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THE XENDRA MYSTERY

It was supposed to be a nice, simple three-day UFO seminar, with people relaxing at the Rio Cipreses National Park near Rancagua, Chile and listening to three lectures by prominent South American ufologists. But then the "blue arch" showed up and hovered motionless in the sky. Twenty-four conference participants walked beneath the arch...and vanished.

Such is "the Xendra mystery," which triggered a furious round of denials and counter denials last week.

It all started at the end of February 2002 when Sixto Paz, a ufologist from Peru, visited Quintero, Chile. In an interview with Terra Chile, Paz "announced that a very significant event that would include extraterrestrial contact would happen in Chile at the end of March or the beginning of April."

On Friday, March 29, 2002, the International Congress of
Extraterrestrial Contact opened at the Rio Cipreses park. Peruvian ufologist
and contactee Sixto Paz was one of the keynote speakers. According to
Chilean ufologist Camilo Valdivieto, "The expectation for such an event grew
ever greater, particularly during the night of Saturday, March 30 (2002),
when many eyewitnesses saw several lights in the sky."

According to another eyewitness, "They were as bright as giant light
bulbs."

The conference participants watched from their tents on the campground, and Paz reportedly hinted that a "Xendra" (pronounced Shenn-drah--J.T.) would appear.

"These types of UFO sightings assured us that something was going to
happen," Valdivieto said, "During the previous occasions when the contact
took place, the people included in the teleportation were suddenly aware of
the interdimensional gateway or Xendra. They somehow learned that through
this door, they would have managed to establish contact with extraterrestrial
beings."

"On Sunday (March 31, 2002) at around noon, 24 persons in three groups entered a dimensional gateway that appeared by itself over the terrain. It was a kind of dome, a luminous archway measuring four by four meters (429 square feet--J.T.) They (the participants) lost their materiality without disappearing completely. Upon entering, they met several (alien) characters who waited within and received information," said Valdivieto, 28, himself a Chilean ufologist and eyewitness to the event.

"According to Valdivieto, the contact experience was 'dimensional. I
can't say it was physical like shaking someone's hand, but it was as though
we crossed (the threshold) into a different reality.'"

Valdivieto "claimed that he did not cross the doorway or 'Xendra'
himself because he wanted to be a witness to the phenomenon."

The 24 participants were "all professionals, college students of high
intellectual levels, mostly Chileans," and some were members of Grupo Rama, a
New Age association.

However, Eduardo Fouri, an investigator for Chile's Centro de Fenomenos Aereos Anomalos (Center for Anomalous Aerial Phenomena--J.T.), contradicted Valdivieto's story, adding that he himself "had participated in the event" at Rio Cipreses "and had seen absolutely nothing."

"Everyone was eager to have an experience and, on the last day, Sixto
Paz said that a blue arch was forming in the air," Fouri said, "I went to
look and could see no such blue arch. Seven Chileans were selected to cross
through this 'Xendra' that was forming. The truth is, I went to look and I
didn't see anyone dematerializing into thin air."

Gustavo Rodriguez, national Secretary of CEFAA, "explained that the
opinion was that of an external collaborator and that it did not represent
the committee's opinion."

"We do not have an opinion in this regard," Rodriguez said, "First,
because we lack information. Second, we were never invited to the meeting.
And third, Sr. Sixto Paz never contacted us. What appeared in the newspapers
was the opinion of an external collaborator."

Rodriguez also "took advantage of the opportunity to make clear that
CEFAA is not an agency of the Fuerzas Aereas de Chile (FACh or Chilean Air
Force--J.T.) but of the Oficina General de Aeronautica Civil (General Office
of Civil Aeronautics--J.T.)

Rancagua is 120 kilometers (72 miles) south of Santiago de Chile, the
national capital.

CHUPACABRAS STRIKE TWICE IN CENTRAL CHILE

Hard on the heels of the Xendra controversy came reports of two
Chupacabra attacks in Chile, one of which was an assault on a human.

On Monday, April 8, 2002, "an alleged Chupacabra left its footprints in a henhouse" in Santa Clara, a barrio (neighborhood) of Talcahuano, a coastal town located 350 kilometers (210 miles) south-southwest of Santiago de Chile, the national capital. "The news about the supposed apparition spread controversy through the region."

"In recent days, several chicken cages and henhouses have been partially destroyed in Santa Clara, and along with them, several chickens."

"Despite the silence of the local authorities, the evidence is clearly there. Hernan Pino, one of the villagers, stated that several officers of the Second Regional Police and many neighbors arrived in the area because they are concerned about the gruesome events that have recently occurred."

"According to the local residents, Talcahuano had never witnessed cases involving mutilations of domestic animals. They expressed concern because they are unable to determine what caused the deaths of these animals."

"Referring to the presence of the Chupacabras in the north, particularly in Calama and its surroundings, one neighbor stated, 'We have heard of these things and how they happen often in those communities. But we always thought it was just wild dogs involved. However, after seeing these horrendous mutilations, after learning how the creature is able to break into matallic fences and henhouses built with steel, we are convinced that it is not a dog.'"

On Tuesday, April 9, 2002, workers at the La Escondida copper mine,
located 230 kilometers (138 miles) south of Antofagasta, "were frightened by
reports of a Chupacabra attack on an employee. The attack took place a few
weeks ago on a cold night at about 3 a.m."

"The worker, it was said, walked toward a (cargo) container used as a
cellar, as he was looking for a spare part. Suddenly, he was attacked by a
beast from behind, causing several wounds to his body and leaving him in a
state of shock."

"Terrified, he began to run, screaming for help. He was finally able to reach two other employees, who were able to see in the dark shadows of the
warehouse what they described as 'a Chupacabra.'"

"The storekeeper received medical attention, and it is said that he and the two other workers have refused to go back to work" at the mine, which is owned by the BSK division of Codelco-Chile.

However, according to Scott Corrales and Jaime Ferrer, there is no truth to the report that Local #15 of the Union de Trabadores Mineros de Chile had called a wildcat strike because the miners were concerned about Chupacabras in the underground tunnels. (Muchas gracias a Dr. Virgilio Sanchez Ocejo, Mario Andrade, Scott Corrales y Jaime Ferrer para esas noticias.)

UFOs ACTIVE IN MEXICO CITY

On Thursday, March 28, 2002, at 6:30 p.m., Mexican ufologist Ana Luisa Cid, her mother Sra. Maria Isabel Fernandez and other family members were riding in their car in the Villa de Guadalupe section of Mexico City "when the spotted an oval sphere the color of gold. According to Sra. Cid, the UFO remained stationary in the sky for several minutes," as commercial aircraft passed beneath the object.

"'Afterward, the OVNI (Spanish acronym for UFO--J.T.) departed at great speed to the north,' said Sra. Fernandez."

On Saturday, March 30, 2002, at 7:15 p.m., Mexican ufologist Pedro
Hernandez "captured on video a UFO which emitted a strong white light,
cruising at high velocity from west to east over Mexico City. Twenty minutes
later, at 7:50 p.m., another large UFO, 'of a bold tomato red color,' was
captured by Hernandez's video camera in the vicinity of Mount Popocatepetl,"
a lofty stratovolcano 60 kilometers (36 miles) southeast of Mexico City.

"The UFO emitted a brilliant white light from its front before it
completely lost itself in the darkening eastern horizon," Hernandez reported.
(See NotiOVNI for April 7, 2002. Muchas gracias a Daniel Munoz para esas
informaciones.)

THREE SILVER SPHERES SEEN OVER MELBOURNE AND ST. KILDA IN AUSTRALIA

On Tuesday, March 26, 2002, at 10:12 a.m., a young woman, who prefers to remain anonymous, claims that she "saw three objects, circular, bright silver white, flying over eastern Melbourne and St. Kilda" in Australia's state of Victoria.

"The first one appeared and 'darted' up in a curve," she reported, "As this occurred, a second silver object shot down in an arc leading upward from the horizon. The third object appeared in the same way but arced downward. All three objects were at least 20 miles (32 kilometers) away, by my estimate of the cloud banks they were moving through. I am very interested to know if there were any other reports at this time in this area." (Many thanks to John Hayes for forwarding this report.)

FOUR ORANGE UFOS SIGHTED AT MOUNT ISA, QUEENSLAND

On Monday, April 15, 2002, at about 2 a.m., E.P. "first noticed the UFOs in front and high above me." He was at his home in Mount Isa, a small city in Australia's state of Queensland located about 750 kilometers (450 miles) northwest of Brisbane.

E.P. described the UFOs as "four dull orange dots flying roughly north, small dots with a soft glow around the outside, zigzagging a little and changing places. Looked up and saw them in front of and above me and watched while they flew away. Time taken till they were out of sight was
approximately 15 to 20 seconds, indicating a great speed. Hard to tell how
high but high. My best guess would be 10,000 to 20,000 feet (3,000 to 6,000
meters)." (Email Form Report)

TRIANGULAR UFOs SEEN ON FLORIDA'S GULF COAST

Triangular UFOs were seen at night last week at two locations on
Florida's Gulf of Mexico shoreline.

The first sighting took place on Wednesday, April 10, 2002, at 10:30
p.m., in Naples, Florida (population 20,976). Eyewitness Victor White
reported, "I was looking up at the Orion constellation (facing west) when I
noticed that something was blocking my view. I saw this large, very dark,
boomerang-shaped craft moving slowly north at the intersection of Highway 75
and Vanderbilt Road. It had small, very dim, white lights on the tips of its
wings. It was very dark and you could never have noticed it if one really
didn't look. It made no sound."

"It could not have been a jet because it moved too slow and couldn't
have been a hang-glider because it moved much faster than any engine-type
plane, and it was way too large." (Email Form Report)

The second sighting took place on Friday, April 12, 2002, at 1:30 a.m., in Gulf Breeze, Florida (population 5,665), a town famous for its many UFO sightings between 1988 and 1993. Eyewitness Brett D. reported, "The UFO
approached from the north. I stepped out of my vehicle to go inside my home
after going out with a friend. I looked into the sky, as I always do, and
noticed a triangular shape coming towards me. It then passed directly over
my head and disappeared into the southern sky" over the Gulf of Mexico.

Brett described the UFO as "black, triangular, three lights that were
visible. One light at the tip of each triangle. It was about 250 feet (75
meters) above ground." (Email Form Report)

Naples, Fla. is on I-75, also known as "Alligator Alley," approximately 102 miles (163 kilometers) west of Fort Lauderdale.

Gulf Breeze, Fla. is in the northwest corner of the state, located about 200 miles (320 kilometers) west of Tallahassee, the state capital.

FLYING TRIANGLE MAKES AN APPEARANCE IN MICHIGAN

On Wednesday, April 10, 2002, J.P. "was sitting in my living room on the second floor of my two-story house" in Commerce Township, Michigan, and "I was looking out our window, which is 10 by 15 feet (3 by 4.5 meters), and I noticed lights in the eastern sky."

"The lights, five in total, were in a V-shape. I have seen just about every kind of plane in the sky, but this was no plane. The lights were set up on this craft with two on each side and one in the center."

"The V was flying in the same manner as migratory birds do. The object was flying roughly 150 to 200 feet (45 to 60 meters) above the ground. There was no noise to be heard. I had the window open. I couldn't make out a structure (wings, cockpit--J.P.) even though the moon was out. The object
without any indication turned (suddenly) as if on a lazy susan and started
off towards the southwest. The whole experience had only lasted about 90
seconds." (Email Form Report)

THE SPHINX OF AQUILONIA!? A MYSTERY IN FRANCE

In the south of France is a curious landform called Monte
Sainte-Victoire, which overlooks the city of Aix-en-Provence. This mountain,
which appears in 12 oil paintings completed by the celebrated artist Paul
Cezanne, has now become the focus of a keen debate in the New Age community.

Namely, is the mountain a badly-eroded Sphinx, similar to the one in
Giza?

"On a hill to the north of Aix there is an archaeological site known as Entremont dating from a pre-Roman period. Its inhabitants were
Celto-Ligurians, and this site was the capital of a tribe the Romans called
the Salyens."

"Here archaeologists have found 'traces of an advanced civilization with shops, warehouses and workshops and also a large building through to be a shrine.' The settlement was located on the end of a rocky peak facing
(Monte) Sainte-Victoire, which was sacred for them, for they identified it
with their wind god Vintour."

The mountain was sacred to Cezanne, too. According to Meyer Schapiro, the artist "identified with it as the ancients with a holy mountain on which they set the dwelling or birthplace of a god."

According to writer William Glyn-Jones, "One unavoidable conclusion to be made about this particular view of the mountain: it looks like a sphinx."

"With extended forepaws, well-developed chest muscles, arched back,
well-defined head and even raised haunches, the likeness to a feline is
uncanny, and upon closer examination, we discover something even more
extraordinary..Zooming into a photograph taken just before an August sunset,
we can see, exactly where it should be, a truly colossal feline face."

Glyn-Jones continues, "Oddly enough, a theory has already been put
forward by Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval that there may once have been a
second Sphinx. They also suggest that the Sphinx (in Giza, Egypt), being of
far greater antiquity than generally recognized, originally had a lion's
face, and that a pharoah of a much later period saw fit to have his own mug
carved out of the sandstone."

"The name of the Sphinx is Hor-em-Ahket, and scholars have translated
this as Horus of the Horizon, and I've also seen it as Horus of the Two
Horizons. Horus was a name of the sun god, not to be confused with Horus,
the sun of Isis and Osiris. As a sun god, he was god of the two horizons,
namely the east of sunrise and the west of sunset."

"'The doors of the sky are thrown open at dawn for Horus of the East,' say the Pyramid Texts, and the Giza sphinx has its face lit by the rays of dawn. But what about the second horizon, that of the west?"

"Hancock and Bauval have gone as far as to suggest that there was
originally a second Sphinx facing west, and they draw attention to Egyptian
depictions of two sphinxes facing in opposite directions in The Keeper of
Genesis."

"Could it be that the guardian of the western horizon was the Provence Sphinx at the western end of the Mediterranean, whose face is made visible by the rays of the setting sun? The Akeru, twin lions seated back-to-back with the sun's disk supported between them, formed an important motif in Egyptian culture."

(Editor's Comment: True enough. I've seen a photograph of two small
back-to-back Sphinxes at Luxor.)

"Evidence has come to light suggesting that in 'prehistory' there was a strong link between Egypt and the Magdalenian culture which flourished in
southern France prior to 9,500 B.C." In addition, "The Magdalenians are
certainly known for hyper-realistic depictions of wildlife in their cave art,
and in that era France was home to the likes of rhino, mammoths and wild cats
such as lions."

"During the last Ice Age, the Mediterranean was much shallower than it is today, as the oceans' water was locked up in two-mile high (3,000-meter) ice sheets. In the last three million years, there have actually been about 36 ice ages (glaciations--J.T.) and if the Mediterranean was dry during any of these (My old geology professor, Dr. Fellows,said it was--J.T.) then we have an explanation for the link between Egypt and the south of France. The Nile could have flowed along the bottom of the (Mediterranean) basin before joining with the Rhone (River) and exiting into the Atlantic via the straits of Gibraltar. Egypt would then simply have been upstream."

It is also possible that the Magdalenians, led by a prehistoric
counterpart of Gutzon Borglum (the sculptor who carved Mount Rushmore in
South Dakota during the 1930s--J.T.), chiseled Monte Sainte-Victoire into a
second Sphinx.

As New Age writer Robert Charroux points out, the Magdalenians were more advanced than people think. In The Mysteries of the Andes, Charroux wrote, "The Magdalenian, the period of Lascaux, Altamira and Lussac-les-Chateaux, is said to have been at the end of what prehistorians call the most recent ice age. Since they supposedly lived in an 'ice age' it might be assumed that they were warmly dressed in furs. But not at all: they wore hats, jackets, trousers, socks, shoes, belts and robes...Some of them had carefully combed hair, others had 'crew cuts' and some wore moustaches and goatees, all of which shows an esthetic concern that is hard to reconcile with the conventional view of them as cave dwellers, half-human and half-animal."

French prehistorian Stephane Lwoff has published sketches of Magdalenian III people from the walls of La Marche cave at Lussac-les-Chateaux. These include a "bald, bearded Magdalenian man" who "looks more like a philosopher or an orator than a club-wielding brute;" a prehistoric princess who looks like Britney Spears; and a Magdalenian woman sitting on a bench. Of her, Lwoff wrote, "With what looks to us like a sailor's waterproof hat on her head, this woman is completely dressed. There appears to be a pocket on the right leg of her trousers, over her thigh. A sole is clearly visible under her foot."

(Editor's Comment: I've seen Mme. Lwoff's sketch. The Magdalenian woman's garb is quite similar to the clothing worn by peasant women in the Dordogne Valley as recently as 1789.)

Strangest of all, the novel Hour of the Dragon (retitled Conan the
Conqueror in 1950) by Robert E. Howard contains a fleeting reference to a
Sphinx is "Poitain, the southernmost province of Aquilonia," now the south of
France. Forced into exile and beginning a long quest to find a talisman that
will enable him to defeat the evil wizard Xaltotun, Conan reins in his mount
and sees a silent Sphinx on the horizon.

(Editor's Note: Aquilonia was Robert E. Howard's made-up name for the France of his "Hyborian Age," about the same time fame as the Magdalenian period. Where he got the notion of a Sphinx in southern France, only Crom knows.)

"In the last years of the Twentieth Century, a new discovery was made
near Avignon , also in southwest France (i.e. the same region as Monte
Sainte-Victorie) The Chauvet cave complex is as awesome as the one at
Lascaux, in fact even more so. It is also 13,000 years older, having been
dated to between 29,700 to 32,400 years ago. Its impressive artwork includes
studies of the faces of lions, as well as bears, rhinoceroses, and a total of
14 types of animals, including an owl. The lion's face shown reveals a great
sensitivity, reminiscent of the face on Sainte-Victoire."

Perhaps it's time to consider what was previously thought to be
unthinkable--that some sort of Bronze Age-type civilization existed in Europe
before the last Pleistocene glaciation over 10,000 years ago. (See Atlantis
Rising Number 33 for May-June 2002, "The Sphinx of Aix-en-Provence" by
William Glyn-Jones, pages 27, 28, 63 and 64. Also The Mysteries of the Andes
by Robert Charroux, Avon Books, New York, N.Y. 1977, pages 82 and 84.)

GIGANTIC ANT COLONY FOUND IN EUROPE

"A super-colony of ants has been discovered, stretching thousands of
miles from the Italian Riviera along the (Mediterranean) coastline to
northwest Spain."

"It's the largest cooperative unit ever recorded, according to Swiss,
French and Danish scientists, whose findings appear in Tuesday's (April 16,
2002) issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

"The 3,600-mile (5,700-kilometer) colony consists of billions of
Argentine ants living in millions of nests that cooperate with one another."

"Normally, ants from different nests fight. (Kind of like homo sapiens--J.T.) But the researchers concluded that ants in the supercolony were all close enough genetically to recognize one another, despite being from different nests with different queens."

"Cooperating allows the colonies to develop at much higher densities
than normally would occur, eliminating about 90 percent of other types of
ants that live near them, said Laurent Keller of the University of Lausanne,
Switzerland." (See the Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune for April 16, 2002,
"Scientists find huge ant colony stretching from Italy to Spain," page 4A.)

READER FEEDBACK:

MYSTERY SOLVED--THE ROSARIO UFO

Concerning the giant "transparent sphere" UFO seen over Rosario,
Argentina two weeks ago (See UFO Roundup, volume 7, number 15 for April 9, 2002, "Giant UFOs reported by hundreds in Argentina," page 2), space sciences author James E. Oberg writes, "Please forward this to the folks in Argentina who are still baffled by the prosaic but still amazing artificial phenomenon."

"For more than 20 years, a certain type of Russian space launch has
regularly caused UFO sightings in Chile and Argentina. The booster blasts
off from Plesetsk, north of Moscow, makes half an orbit, and then, as it
crosses central Chile, it fires its rocket stage again to send the payload
into a higher elliptical orbit over the northern hemisphere (the so-called
Molniya orbit--J.O.). The last stage then vents its excess propellant."

"When this occurs, just after sunset local (Chile) time, a large
nebulous sphere is seen moving through the skies over Argentina, Uruguay and
even southern Brazil. I first wrote about this in 1983 in Fate magazine that
discussed such examples as June 14, 1980 and October 31, 1982, but even today
UFO chroniclers still overlook the prosaic explanation and report such
sightings as true UFOs."

Jim Oberg also provided the actual text of the news release which proves that a Russian Molniya rocket was launched at that time. "Text of report by Russian news agency RIA: Moscow, 2 April (2002) A Molniya-M booster carrying a (Russian) Ministry of Defense satellite was launched from Plesetsk State Experimental Cosmodrome at 0207 Moscow (2207 GMT) time on 2 April,
RIA-Novosti correspondent was told at the Russian Space Troops news service.
The launch was carried out by the troops unit."

The full text of Jim Oberg's 1983 article can be found at http://www.debunker.com/texts/giant_ufo.html.

(Editor's Note: When it's 2:07 a.m. in Moscow on April 2, 2002, adjusting for the intervening time zones, the corresponding moment is 6:07 p.m. on April 1, 2002 in Buenos Aires. Or two hours before the people of the Rosario region saw the phenomenon in the evening sky. Obviously, the ejected
propellant from the Molniya-M rocket caused the "giant transparent sphere."
I guess we can mark this one--Case Closed.)

From the UFO Files...

1897: A UFO LANDS IN EASTERN TEXAS

Continuing our look back at the first great UFO flap in American history, UFO Roundup presents another actual newspaper article from 105 years ago. This one is from the Houston, Texas Post of April 26, 1897.

"Josserand: Considerable excitement prevails at this writing in this
unusually quiet village of Josserand, caused by a visit of the noted airship,
which has been at so many points of late."

"Mr. Frank Nichols, a prominent farmer living about two miles east of
here (i.e. in rural Trinity County, Texas--J.T.), and a man of unquestioned
veracity, was awakened night before last (April 24, 1897) near the hour of
twelve by a whirring noise similar to that made by machinery. Upon looking
out, he was startled, beholding brilliant lights streaming from a ponderous
vessel of strange proportions, which rested upon the ground in his cornfield."

"Having read the despatches, published in the Post of the noted aerial navigators, the truth at once flashed over him that he was one of the
fortunate ones and with all the bravery of Priam at the siege of Troy, Mr.
Nichols started out to investigate."

"Before reaching the strange midnight visitor, he was accosted by two
men with buckets who asked permission to draw water from his well. Thinking
he might be entertaining heavenly visitors instead of earthly mortals,
permission was readily granted."

"Mr. Nichols was kindly invited to accompany them to the ship. He
conversed freely with the crew, composed of six or eight individuals about
the ship. The machinery was so complicated that in his short interview he
could gain no knowledge of its workings. However, one of the crew told him
the problem of aerial navigation had been solved."

"The ship or car is built of a newly-discovered material that has the
property of self-sustenance in the air, and the motive power is highly
condensed electricity. He was informed that five of these ships were built
at a small town in Iowa. Soon the invention will be given to the public. An
immense stock company is now being formed and within the next year (1898) the
machines will be in general use."

"Mr. Nichols lives at Josserand, Trinity County, Texas, and will
convince any incredulous one by showing the place where the ship rested."

Trinity County is about 90 miles (154 kilometers) north of Houston.
(See the Houston Post for April 26, 1897. Also the book Passport to Magonia
by Jacques Vallee, Contemporary Books, Chicago, Illinois, 1993, pages 145 and
146.)

Well, that's it for this week. Join us in seven days for more UFO,
Fortean and paranormal news from around the planet Earth, brought to you by
"the paper that goes home--UFO Roundup." See you then.

UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 2002 by Masinaigan Productions, all rights reserved. Readers may post news items from UFO Roundup on their websites or in news groups provided that they credit the newsletter and its editor by name and list the date of issue in which the item first appeared.